Friday, February 1, 2013

When my niece came to visit in the fall and taught me some tricks on instagram, the tween “T” was in ear shot soaking up everything she was saying. You know where this is going don’t you? Of course “T” wanted to get the instagram app on his ipod and open an account. Since it’s sort of like having access to the internet and we don’t allow him to have a web browser on his ipod I was hestitant to let him, but we had a talk with him about the dangers and hoped for the best.

He had fun taking and posting pictures for awhile and then one day a few months later I asked him if he’d posted any photos recently and he told me he has taken the app off his ipod. I was pretty shocked. When I inquired why---he told me some of the pictures hadinappropriately dressed girls. He would also get comments on his pictures saying things like, “Love your picture, head to my page if you're looking for a real date tonight.” Who knows where the links led--somewhere with semi-nude girls or worse I’m sure.

Since looking at naked women isn't my thing I didn't go check outthe
state of undress that the women in the pictures are in, but I am into protecting
the innocence of my children, especially my sons when it comes to
things of this nature.

We told him not to go check out any ones photos that comments on his that he doesn’t know in real life. Unfortunately there is evil everywhere and he came to the conclusion on his own that he needed to deleteinstagram.

I just realized that you can make it so your account is private, but that still doesn’t stop your tween/teen from looking at inappropriate pictures that other people post. If someone knows differently please enlighten me.